A Brooklyn man was shot and killed in his family's restaurant late Friday in an incident that the police said might have been mob-related.

The police identified the man as Rocco Rubino, 28 years old, of 2339 Jerome Avenue in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. They said he had an arrest record, including a 1980 conviction on a weapons charge.

Yesterday's killing was the latest in a series of possibly gang-related slayings that have puzzled police investigators. Since the beginning of the year, the violent deaths of at least 10 men in Brooklyn have had the markings of gangland murders.

Those who were killed were associated with either the Colombo or Bonanno crime familes, and some knew each other. The police described them as low-level operators involved in various criminal activities ranging from narcotics to credit-card fraud.
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The United States Attorney for the Eastern District, Andrew J. Maloney, and some other officials speculated that at least some of the killings seemed to indicate a lapse in discipline resulting from the recent convictions of many senior mob figures.

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Mr. Rubino had been renovating a rear portion of the family restaurant, Rubino's Crab House at 2003 Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, when shortly after 11 P.M. one or more gunmen entered, shot him several times in his chest, and then fled, the police said. A passer-by notified the police, who said there were no signs of forced entry into the restaurant.

The police said they believed Mr. Rubino was a low-level member of an organized crime family.

No weapons were recovered and the motive has not been determined, the police said. As of late yesterday afternoon, they were unable to determine the caliber of the weapon used.

Mr. Rubino's body was picked up late yesterday afternoon, more than 14 hours after the shooting.

Suzanne Halpin, a spokeswoman for the Health and Hospitals Corporation, said she did not know the specific reasons for the delay, though she noted that the agency has only one morgue wagon in the borough, and it is often tied up for long periods.

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An employee of Joe's Clam Bar, near the Rubino restaurant, said that the family had lived in the Sheepshead Bay area for many years, and that Mr. Rubino was well liked.
Mr. Rubino was convicted of a felony in 1980 for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He received a five-year probation, the police said. He was also convicted the same year of a misdemeanor, possession of marijuana, and was fined $250. In 1977, he pleaded guilty and was convicted of harassment, the police said.